Pingora Partners LLC Has $2.07 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pingora Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,871 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.5% of Pingora Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Pingora Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 2.4 %

Apple stock opened at $227.63 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $241.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.